Scottish news headlines - Monday March 17

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Alex Salmond has accused Andrew Marr of personal bias.

THE BBC has been challenged to justify remarks made by presenter Andrew Marr after he was accused of expressing personal opinions about Scotland joining the EU in a live interview with Alex Salmond.

The SNP claim that Marr's comments on his Sunday morning show appeared to be outside the BBC's editorial guidelines and that it appeared to have ignored "overwhelming evidence" that Scotland would remain in the EU if the country was to gain independence.

The BBC presenter said: "I think it will be quite hard to get back in, I have to say," which lead to a surge of complaints on social media about BBC bias.

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THE boss of Scotland's new school exams has resigned, just weeks before his controversial examinations begin.

Roderic Gillespie, who is behind the Curriculum for Excellence scheme which has been branded shambolic by teachers, has handed in his notice with the first National Five exam set to be taken by fourth-year pupils on April 29

An SQA source said last night: “The timing certainly looks fishy."

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DISGRACED former MSP Bill Walker will be freed from jail this week after serving only half of his sentence.

The news was greeted with anger as Walker, who was jailed in September for subjecting three ex-wives and a stepdaughter to decades of domestic violence, will walk out of Dumfries Prison after serving only half his 12-month sentence.

Opponents of the law, which sees prisoners serving under four years freed after half their term, said the 71-year-old's release “exposes the nonsense” of the system.

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DRUG mule Melissa Reid’s parents are set to visit her in Peru, where she is expected to spend her 21st birthday behind bars.

Reid is hoping for a transfer to a Scots jail for the remainder of her six-year sentence, but has been told that a move is unlikely to happen before her birthday in August.

Melissa's parents are thought to have held off booking the trip in the hope of a transfer, but the Foreign Office has claimed a move to any ­Scottish prison “ would not be very quick”.